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Sir_Vulcan · 09-30-2004, 12:48 AM

Hi guys,

One thing that is really hard to do with mental ray is caustics. Everything needs to be set perfectly or you get a lot of errors. And if it does work its usually pretty slow at rendering.

I just started working on this project today and I am very satisfied with the results. When I first started it took 2:00 minutes to render this scene with only 20000 photons. And things didnt look right or it might not render depending on how everything was setup Now, after finding the right settings, it takes about 1:20 and I can change things (move objects and lights, change materials) and I rarely have errors when rendering.

I have a 1.3 Ghz computer with 640Mb of ram. can anyone tell me if these are pretty good render times?

Heres the scene i used. 3 minutes with 500000 caustic photons

**Stryker** · 09-30-2004, 04:05 AM

Cool. Light very fine and rendering as well.

arona · 09-30-2004, 05:02 AM

good job. the render time i think is good. but really making caustics is not that hard. i mean it doesnt need that much addjustments. i tried myself on it. and on theother hand rendering time depends on many stuffs, such as lighting, rendering settings, materials and so on. the settings for light:
global settings on, 34 energy, 94 caustic photon. rendering time: 2:28. but i have almost pretty fast computer so dont worry about time. :thumbsup:

sirpalee · 09-30-2004, 06:55 AM

Hi!

What sort of render did you use? Mental, final or v-ray?

disaac · 09-30-2004, 12:24 PM

Nice work, you found the right settings for sure. Kepp it up.

Sir_Vulcan · 09-30-2004, 01:22 PM

I always get the no photons stored error, and then if i change something in the scene sometimes it works. Most of the time is has to do with the standard material(with raytraced maps) appied to the object. So I dont use them for caustics.

Arona - what did you use for the base material? Standard, Raytraced, or mental ray?

Sirpalee - I am using mental ray

arona · 09-30-2004, 03:23 PM

i used both max raytrace and mentalray glass materials. in both situations there were no error. :thumbsup:

Sir_Vulcan · 09-30-2004, 09:56 PM

Ya, I think I got the error thing figured out. Here is a test using different materials.

1: Standard material with Raytraced reflections and refractions
2: Raytraced material
3: Mental Ray material with Glass(Lume) surface and DGS Photon(3dmax)
4: Mental Ray material with DGS Material(3dmax) surface and DGS Photon
5: Mental Ray material with Glass(Lume) surface and Photon Basic(Base)

I think 4 is the best by far, is has nice caustics both inside and outside of the block. I am surprised that the photon basic didnt turn out as nice. I must have to adjust something.

The Lugerer · 10-01-2004, 12:47 AM

looks great

jukka · 10-02-2004, 01:31 AM

fantastic... thats the one thing i love about brazil, caustics add so much to an image if they're done right. i haven't had much experience with mental ray though, but it looks like its up there in terms of features

09-30-2004, 12:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sir_Vulcan Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: On a Dead Pixel Posts: 386 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 6	Caustics Testing Hi guys, One thing that is really hard to do with mental ray is caustics. Everything needs to be set perfectly or you get a lot of errors. And if it does work its usually pretty slow at rendering. I just started working on this project today and I am very satisfied with the results. When I first started it took 2:00 minutes to render this scene with only 20000 photons. And things didnt look right or it might not render depending on how everything was setup Now, after finding the right settings, it takes about 1:20 and I can change things (move objects and lights, change materials) and I rarely have errors when rendering. I have a 1.3 Ghz computer with 640Mb of ram. can anyone tell me if these are pretty good render times? Heres the scene i used. 3 minutes with 500000 caustic photons

09-30-2004, 04:05 AM	#2 (permalink)
Stryker 3DM Administrator View My Portfolio Join Date: May 2002 Age: 24 Posts: 3,384 Blog Entries: 29 Thanks: 64 Thanked 45 Times in 37 Posts Rep Power: 10	Cool. Light very fine and rendering as well. __________________ 3DExport.com - 3D Models Store 2Textured.com - FREE High-Res Textures CGChosen.com - CG Chosen E-magazine

09-30-2004, 06:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
sirpalee just for fun View My Portfolio Join Date: Oct 2003 Age: 23 Posts: 76 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 6	Hi! What sort of render did you use? Mental, final or v-ray? __________________ There is no fate. Only possibilities of virtually unlimited random events. Some have greater chance, some have smaller. If we are good, we can change the chances, to get the derised flow of events.

09-30-2004, 12:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
disaac Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: US Posts: 204 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 5	Nice work, you found the right settings for sure. Kepp it up. __________________ The moment they make it idiot proof, we build a better idiot. IMD - Media

09-30-2004, 01:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sir_Vulcan Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: On a Dead Pixel Posts: 386 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 6	I always get the no photons stored error, and then if i change something in the scene sometimes it works. Most of the time is has to do with the standard material(with raytraced maps) appied to the object. So I dont use them for caustics. Arona - what did you use for the base material? Standard, Raytraced, or mental ray? Sirpalee - I am using mental ray Last edited by Sir_Vulcan; 09-30-2004 at 01:51 PM.

09-30-2004, 05:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
arona Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Age: 23 Posts: 380 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 5	good job. the render time i think is good. but really making caustics is not that hard. i mean it doesnt need that much addjustments. i tried myself on it. and on theother hand rendering time depends on many stuffs, such as lighting, rendering settings, materials and so on. the settings for light: global settings on, 34 energy, 94 caustic photon. rendering time: 2:28. but i have almost pretty fast computer so dont worry about time. :thumbsup:

09-30-2004, 03:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
arona Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Age: 23 Posts: 380 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 5	i used both max raytrace and mentalray glass materials. in both situations there were no error. :thumbsup:

09-30-2004, 09:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sir_Vulcan Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: On a Dead Pixel Posts: 386 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 6	Ya, I think I got the error thing figured out. Here is a test using different materials. 1: Standard material with Raytraced reflections and refractions 2: Raytraced material 3: Mental Ray material with Glass(Lume) surface and DGS Photon(3dmax) 4: Mental Ray material with DGS Material(3dmax) surface and DGS Photon 5: Mental Ray material with Glass(Lume) surface and Photon Basic(Base) I think 4 is the best by far, is has nice caustics both inside and outside of the block. I am surprised that the photon basic didnt turn out as nice. I must have to adjust something.

10-01-2004, 12:47 AM	#9 (permalink)
The Lugerer Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Age: 20 Posts: 32 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0	looks great __________________ Got Lugered?

10-02-2004, 01:31 AM	#10 (permalink)
jukka Registered User View My Portfolio Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 0	fantastic... thats the one thing i love about brazil, caustics add so much to an image if they're done right. i haven't had much experience with mental ray though, but it looks like its up there in terms of features

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